Line #40 Main/OneSongBard


1	When the cast of an audiovisual work includes a bard, or another type of professional musician or singer, but they only seem to perform a single song in the course of the story, instead of numerous, as you would expect from a seasoned performer.
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3	There can be a number of in-story justifications for this, but out-of-universe, it usually boils down to the production costs of writing and recording a plot-relevant song specifically for the story.
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5	Compare OneHitWonder. See OneBookAuthor for the closest you can get to RealLife examples.
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7	----
8	!!Examples:
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10	[[foldercontrol]]
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12	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
13	* Brook from ''Franchise/OnePiece'' only ever plays "Bink's Sake" until the TimeSkip, even when he asks for requests.
14	* A variant occurs in the anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'', where Kosaka is very skilled at playing video games, but aside from a VS match of ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' (which mostly happens off-screen) the only game he's ever shown playing is ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear Isuka'', and only the ''[[RecycledAnimation exact same]]'' Sol vs. Jam match every time.
15	[[/folder]]
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17	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
18	* ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' features Minako's idol singer career as a major plot point, but viewers are going to have to hear a ''lot'' of repeats of "C'est la vie".
19	* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' has the rock musician Charlie, whose band Drive Shaft seems to have one and only song, "You All Everybody". After mockery from fans, it was later revealed that the group were a OneHitWonder.
20	* Uncle Jesse on ''Series/FullHouse.'' When he wasn't being an Elvis impersonator, his only real hit song was "Forever." Stephanie continues the tradition on ''Series/FullerHouse'' with "The Boy Next Door."
21	* The Zit Remedy (later the Zits) on ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'' and ''Series/DegrassiHigh'' only had the one song, "Everybody Wants Something".
22	* While Johnny Crawfish has many songs on ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' in which he sings, he's only had one solo song, "Special", which was made for a potential investor in the show and was not featured on the show itself.
23	* Despite much of ''Series/{{Atlanta}}'' following Alfred aka Paper Boi's career as a rapper, only one song, "Paper Boi" (his first hit) has any substantial play. Occasionally other song titles are referenced, but they're never actually performed.
24	[[/folder]]
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26	[[folder:Video Games]]
27	* Iolo [=FitzOwen=] from the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series may well be the king of this trope: despite being present as a {{famed\|InStory}} bard in every installment (except ''VIII''), he is only ever credited with a single full song, [[https://ultima.wikia.com/wiki/Stones "Stones"]], which he didn't even compose until ''VideoGame/UltimaV'' (and whose lyrics were actually written by his wife)!
28	* Leliana in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' prides herself in her bardic past (although bards in this series are not just performers, but also assassins and saboteurs for hire), but only ever sings once in the course of the story, namely [[https://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_In_Uthenera "In Uthenera"]], an ancient elven funeral song. Later games don't see her sing at all[[note]]''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' has her sing "The Dawn Will Come" ''along'' with the rest of the Inquisiton, but that performance is started and led by Mother Giselle[[/note]], although she does perform the same song at [[spoiler:Wynne's funeral]] in ''Literature/{{Asunder}}''.
29	* Lohse in ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'' is a world-famous bard and several [=NPCs=] recognize her as such, but she only ever sings one song in the game, "Sing To Me". This is justified by the fact that a powerful demon that is possessing her hates music on principle: the first time she tries to sing in the story, he makes her break her lute, and she doesn't sing for the second and final time in the game until after he has been exorcised from her shortly before the final act.
30	* Azura from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' is a Songstress, but she only ever really sings one song, [[https://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Lost_in_Thoughts_All_Alone "Lost in Thoughts All Alone"]]. This is justified in-story by it being a versatile MagicMusic, which she can use to achieve different magical effects, [[SupportPartyMember focused on buffing allies and debuffing enemies]]. Thus, Azura simply doesn't ever need to learn any other songs.
31	* Averted in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow1'', where Aisha's fame in-universe matches her actual presence on the radio, with no less than three singles playing on different in-universe stations during regular gameplay. It's particularly notable because Aisha is just a minor side character in the Vice Kings story arc, yet Volition hired an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sy_Smith professional R&B singer-songwriter]] to voice her and to record all three songs exclusively for the game.
32	* Jimmy (The Bard) in ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' only has one real song: The Maiden from Stonebury Hollow.
33	* The bards in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' know precisely two songs, and they all perform them the same way. Conveniently, one song supports the Stormcloaks, and one supports the Empire. If you're going to make money as a musician during a civil war in Skyrim, you need to be able to entertain both sides of the conflict.
34	[[/folder]]
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36	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
37	* Before the events of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', Phoenix Wright became the pianist for the Borscht Bowl Club, even though he only knew how to play one song. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since his title as a pianist was just a cover for his real job, which was to challenge customers to games of poker.
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40	[[folder:Web Comics]]
41	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': With a few exceptions, all of Elan's songs follow the same basic tune of "x, x, x, x the y" with any extra lyric crammed in at the end. Since Elan is a QuirkyBard, it fits.
42	[[/folder]]
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44	[[folder:Western Animation]]
45	* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'': In the episode where Jerry Reed guest-stars, he sings a song to help the gang find him. Instead of singing any other songs he might be known for, he sings "Pretty Mary Sunlight" over and over.
46	* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'''s ShotForShotRemake of ''Film/ANewHope'', ''[[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuyPresentsLaughItUpFuzzball Blue Harvest]]'', where the leader of the Cantina Band subtly implies that they only know one song.
47	-->'''Bandleader''': Thank you, we're the Cantina Band! If you have any requests, just shout 'em out! (''aside, in a high voice'') "Play that same song!" (''normally'') Okay, same song! Here we go! (''plays the first song again'')
48	[[/folder]]

Context Main / OneSongBard